Wednesday, May 30, 2007

From the blog In Search of Jannah:Colonizing Islam: the Black-White Divide which suggests (with a number of caveats) that at least in the UK Muslim community the Salafi/Sufi split seems to have racial and class components.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

NEW CITY, N.Y. - The county jail where a Christian minister handed out anti-Islamic cartoons announced it will hire an imam for its Muslim inmates.

The Rockland County Jail also said it will provide religiously appropriate food.

Rockland Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie said Tuesday that the imam will work one day a week, joining the jail’s priest and rabbi.

The Christian chaplain, the Rev. Teresa Darden Clapp, was suspended with pay last month after inmates complained she was passing out anti-Islam booklets.

In the cartoon panel stories, a tract titled “Men of Peace?” said Islamic fundamentalists who commit terrorist acts are not “bad Muslims” but “very good Muslims” who act in accordance with their religion. Another tract, titled “Allah Has No Son,” said Allah is not God, Muhammad was no prophet, and the Quran is not the word of God. Both stories end with people being convinced Islam is false. In one, a Muslim converts to Christianity.

Local Muslims have called for Clapp’s dismissal, and the county requested an independent investigation.

Clapp has not commented public about the controversy and has not responded to messages seeking comment.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

While researching a paper for class I came across some interesting notes about "whiteness" from one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. From the gist of Franklin's rhetoric, I found myself easily able to substitute and of the other European races for "Muslim", "Arab", "Paki", or even, "Mexican".